Chapter 17:
“Joe!” I heard Sierra scream as she ran into the living room where I was sitting with my brothers and their girlfriends. We had just come home from picking the girls up at LAX and were trying to plan what we were going to do for the whole week. Sierra had left for a moment to run to the bathroom, but it didn’t take long before she came scrambling back.
“What? Did you fall in?” I chuckled as she walked up to me, pouting and crossing her arms. I turned to Nick, “I told you to remember to put the seat down when the ladies are here.”
Nick rolled his eyes at me and Sierra sat down next to me on the couch and wrapped her arms around my waist and put her head on my chest, looking up at me with puppy dog eyes and a pout to match. “I didn’t fall in, Joseph,” she said, trying not to giggle. “There’s a spider in there, go kill it,” she whined, squeezing my waist.
I smiled down at her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder, stroking her arm with my thumb. I looked over to Kevin, “Kev, go kill it,” I said. Kevin mimicked Nick’s eye roll.
Sierra sat up and slapped me on the chest. “Ow,” I pouted, “What was that for? I don’t like spiders either!”
“Too bad,” Sierra giggled.
“Alright,” I gave in, standing up from the couch and grabbing her hand, leading her to the bathroom. I grabbed some toilet paper, located the spider, killed it, and flushed it down the toilet. “You all good now?” I laughed, pulling her into a hug in the hallway. I wrapped my arms around her waist and put my chin on the top of her head, rocking her back and forth slightly.
She wrapped her arms firmly around my torso and squeezed me tight. “Uh-huh,” she mumbled into my chest, “thank you.”
“I would kill a million spiders for you,” I said softly, kissing the top of her head.
She pulled away and raised her eyebrows at me. “You are a big nerd. That was so cheesy!”
“I know,” I sighed, “But that’s why you love me.” I pressed my forehead to hers and gazed into her blue eyes.
“How’d you know?” she giggled. “You’re my nerd.” She closed the distance between us and pressed her lips firmly against mine. I wished I could stay in that kiss forever; I hated being away from her all the time. I could barely breathe without her.
She pulled away and started to walk back into the bathroom, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her back into me, clasping her lips in mine again and kissing her passionately. “I love you,” I cooed after finally pulling away.
“I love you too,” she giggled, walking into the bathroom as I soaked in her laugh.
She is truly amazing.
I found myself instinctively awakened as the limo came nearing its destination. I could spot the “Hilton” sign glowing warmly at the top of the hotel, 20 or so stories high. I sighed and lifted my free hand to rub the sleep from my eyes. I gently lifted the other hand off Madeline’s shoulder to glance at my watch, catching the light of nearby streetlights to allow me to read the time.
12:55 a.m.
I yawned and stretched carefully, not wanting to wake Mads, who was slumbering peacefully with her head on my chest. I shook my curls out and looked around the rest of the limo. My dad had his glasses perched on the edge of his nose as he looked through a magazine, his arm wrapped protectively around my mother’s shoulder. My mom was obviously trying to fight off sleep, while laying her head on his shoulder and cradling the head of a snoring Frankie in her lap. Kevin and Alyssa were awake, muttering quietly and lovingly to each other, but looked like they were both as exhausted as everyone else in the car. Joe looked like he was just about to pass out, but was staying conscious for Sierra, as he smiled at her while she laid her head on his shoulder and playing drowsily with their interlaced fingers.
I finally looked down at my sleeping girlfriend. I chuckled a little at the sight. She had a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal tucked under one arm, clutching a giant lollipop in the corresponding hand. The other one was hanging onto a personalized Mickey Mouse hat she had taken off so that she could sleep comfortably. To explain, we had just gotten back from a day at Disneyland. We had gone in a big group---the entire family, the band, the TV show costars, the Camp Rock costars, Disney Channel friends, and anyone else who was in town---mainly in order to avoid the press speculation; but nevertheless it was amazing. The girls had been in town for three days now and we had only just begun on helping them experience LA. On Sunday night, we took them to Tao. On Monday, we took them on a tour of Hollywood and Universal Studios. On Tuesday, we took them shopping on Rodeo and then spent the rest of the day watching movies in our home theatre. Today, it was Disneyland. All had been done in large groups to avoid the media, and so far it was working. In a nutshell, it had already been a long week and we were all exhausted, even though the week had barely begun. The girls weren’t leaving until Sunday morning, and we had a beach day planned for tomorrow, individual dates planned for Friday before we had a special benefit concert that night, and a special going-away party planned for them at our house for the last day.
The limo turned gently into the parking lot of the hotel and pulled up to in front of the glass doors. A valet walked up groggily but politely and opened the door next to me. Nobody moved, partly because of exhaustion and partly because I was in the way of the door. I stroked Mads’ hair softly. “Mads, baby, wake up,” I whispered soothingly. She didn’t move. She was out like a light.
I looked at my parents, pleading them with my eyes to help me get her up to her room without interrupting her sleep. My mom caught my eye and immediately caught on.
“Big Rob,” she said softly to the front of the limo. Big Rob turned his head around to look at my mom through the window between the front and the back, “Would you carry Madeline up to her room so we don’t have to wake her up?”
Big Rob smiled and nodded. He opened the door and came around to the back. I gently readjusted Mads so that I wasn’t supporting her anymore and quietly slid out of the car into the cool California night air. Big Rob lifted her out of the car gently and easily, and Sierra and Alyssa quickly but reluctantly emerged as well, and all four started heading for the entrance of the hotel.
Hating to see Mads leave without being able to give her a proper goodbye, I frantically dipped my head through the door and shot my mom another pleading look. “Mom…”
“Go ahead,” she said gently, smiling warmly and sleepily. “Just tuck her in and be back here fast. The other two girls probably want to shower, and we all want to get home.” I saw Joe and Kevin shoot our mother a questioning look, as they were probably wondering why they weren’t also given the o.k. to tuck their girlfriends in. But I didn’t stick around to hear them argue with her, as I rushed toward the entrance to follow Big Rob and the girls to their room, lugging all of Mads’s Disney merchandise with me.
We managed to make it to the door without a hitch, probably because it was 1a.m. and everyone was in bed. I followed the girls and Big Rob into the room and Big Rob gently laid a still-slumbering Madeline down on her bed while Sierra and Alyssa both collapsed on Alyssa’s bed, Sierra laying her head lazily on Alyssa’s back and sprawling her leg over the width of the bed. Both of them were still fully clothed in what they wore to Disneyland. I chuckled at the sight as I sat down on the side of the bed and gently took Madeline’s shoes off. Once I had gotten her safely tucked under the covers, I kissed her cheek and then slowly crept toward the door, nodding to Big Rob that I was ready to go.
“Nick?” I heard a faint voice say from behind me.
Well, look who’s finally awake.
I motioned Big Rob for one more minute then quickly turned around and smiled softly at the half-awake Madeline, who got up out of her bed and scrambled over into my arms.
I pulled her close and she laid her head on my chest, apparently still fighting off sleep. “Well, that’s not nice,” I joked softly, stroking her hair, “Now I’m going to have to tuck you in again.”
She looked up at me and smiled embarrassedly, and I could see a tint of pink rise to her cheeks. I quickly leaned down and kissed her gently to let her know I was only joking. “I just didn’t want you to leave without saying goodnight,” she whispered.
I smiled and took her hand, leading her back over to her bed. She situated herself under the covers and clutched the Mickey Mouse doll I had bought for her closely. I made sure she was re-tucked in and then kissed her softly on the lips. “Goodnight,” I whispered, pressing my forehead to hers.
She smiled sweetly. “Goodnight,” she whispered back “Thanks for an amazing week so far.”
“It’s not even started,” I said with a smirk. “Now get some sleep,” I said, giving her one final kiss and adjusting the covers one more time.
“Okay, you too. I’ll miss you,” she said as I walked toward the door.
“I’ll miss you more,” I said, as I flicked off the light and closed the door reluctantly, hating leaving her with every fiber of my being.
She means the whole world to me.
“And then I slipped on a banana peel and landed flat on my rear end! And the really cute guy in front of me seemed more amused than sympathetic! I swear it was just like one of those embarrassing scenes you see in movies! It was horrible!” Demi explained, giggling slightly to herself.
“It was hilarious!” Selena exclaimed loudly, laughing uncontrollably while Demi shot her a glare.
“This coming from the girl who laughed at me every day for a week after it,” Demi said, still glaring at Selena but not helping but laugh a little harder. She looked at Alyssa and me and rolled her eyes. “It’s so hard to find good best friends these days.”
Alyssa giggled and I noticed her glance at Sierra. “Tell me about it,” she laughed.
Sierra noticed what she was implying after a moment. “Hey!” Sierra whined before sticking her tongue out at Alyssa. Joe chuckled and pulled her closer to him, kissing her on the head.
I looked down at Alyssa and pulled her closer as well, wrapping the towel tighter around her shoulders. She smiled warmly up at me and I could see that the embarrassed blush that had been on her cheeks before was mostly faded away. She had fallen in the ocean fully clothed about 30 minutes ago when we took a boat ride, and you could tell she was embarrassed about it. She had no reason to be so embarrassed, but I guessed the fact that nearly everyone, even Nick, wouldn’t stop bothering her about it had a lot to do with it. Demi I think had guessed that too, hence her narration of her own embarrassing moment. And luckily Demi’s kind and sympathetic actions seemed to help a lot.
A chilly night breeze blew strongly momentarily and I felt Alyssa shiver, despite the fire that was blazing right in front of us. I held her tighter and placed my chin on her shoulder, rocking her slightly. She gently laid her head on mine and closed her eyes. I followed. It obviously wasn’t everyday that we got to just enjoy each other’s company, with or without others around. So lately, we had been savoring every moment together as if those kinds of moments were going extinct. It had been so hard to keep our relationship alive for these past few months. We had both gotten so busy that sometimes we hardly ever had time to talk. And when we did, lately it wasn’t much. I felt like a bad boyfriend because I didn’t even know where she was at in her college admissions process. That’s exactly why I was planning on breaking away from the group for practically the first time this week soon tonight so that Alyssa and I could talk a little more in depth.
“I love you,” I whispered in Alyssa’s ear as the other continued to chat among themselves.
“Love you too,” she whispered back, keeping her eyes closed and her head on mine.
“No, I love you more!” Joe yelled obnoxiously, apparently overhearing us.
Alyssa opened her eyes just to glare at him sharply. Sierra giggled and elbowed him.
“Joe!” Demi screamed, “That’s so not cool! Nobody does that to you when you and Sierra are being all lovey-dovey!”
Demi and Selena and many others in the group continued to yell at Joe, and Joe continued to try to defend himself. Alyssa and I chuckled to ourselves while I held her tighter and kissed her on the cheek.
“Kev,” a familiar voice said from next to me. I looked up to see my good friend Meaghan Martin with victorious smile on her face. I knew exactly what she wanted.
I jumped up off the ground and smiled back at her. “Everything ready?” I whispered.
“Yup!” Meaghan said sweetly. Then, laying a hand on my shoulder she added, “Now go.”
“Thanks, Meg. I owe you,” I said.
I looked down at Alyssa, who was gazing into the fire, holding the towel over her tightly, shivering just slightly in my absence. I bent down and took her hand and started to pull her up. “C’mon babe. Come with me,” I whispered, and she let me lead her away from the group.
“Whoooooo!” Joe hollered, causing more carping at him from the group.
I rolled my eyes and then smiled down at my beautiful (even when wet) girlfriend. She smiled back up at me, but had a suspicious expression on her face.
“Kevin, where are we going?” she asked, eyeing me and her surroundings.
“You’ll see. Just trust me,” I said, staring straight ahead with a smirk on my face.
We soon turned a corner and you could see a blanket spread out in the sand next to a few large rocks, a few candles scattered near it. A small bouquet of red roses lay in the middle of the blanket. It was simple, but I knew that was what made it romantic. Apparently Alyssa thought so too, as I heard her gasp as soon as she saw it.
“Meaghan did a great job setting this up, didn’t she?” I said as I led Alyssa to the blanket. I bent down and picked up the roses and handed them to her, then sat down on the blanket, leaning against the big rock behind me and led Alyssa down to sit next to me.
She snuggled up to me and laid her head on my shoulder. “This is beautiful, Kev. But what’s it all for?” she said softly, lifting her head momentarily to kiss me on the cheek before replacing it on my shoulder.
“It’s all for you. Because I love you. And I thought we could talk and just get away from everything else, just the two of us,” I replied.
She lifted her head and looked into my eyes, nodding. And we started talking. About the ocean and the private beach we were on, about Joe and his antics, about our lives, our schedules, this break, pizza. Everything. But once again I noticed she was avoiding one subject: college.
“Hey, Lyss?” I said, a little hesitant to approach a subject that would probably affect our entire futures together, whether we wanted it to or not.
Her brown eyes pierced into mine and she flashed me a small smile. “Yeah?” she asked.
“How’s college admissions coming?” I asked, looking away slightly, though trying not to make it look too obvious that I was worried about the subject.
She sighed a little, signifying that it wasn’t an easy subject for her either. “It’s going well,” she said, trying to sound confident but obviously not. “I actually got admitted to all the colleges I applied to. It’s just all a matter of location and scholarships.”
“Any one in particular you’re looking at?” I asked, biting my lip slightly.
“Well, New Mexico State University offered me a full-ride! My parents are really excited. It could be really easy on them if I accept it,” she said enthusiastically.
“That’s great!” I said, matching her enthusiasm. Her staying in New Mexico didn’t bring us closer, but it sure didn’t keep us farther apart.
“But, Kev, there’s one more you should know about,” Alyssa said seriously.
“What?” I asked, hoping that it wasn’t too bad.
“UCLA is offering me a half-ride.”
Perfect!
“Oh,” I said coolly, not really sure what she thought of it, although I knew that that was the perfect college if we wanted to stay together. “Are you considering that one?”
“I don’t know, Kev,” she said quietly. “It’s a good deal but not as much as New Mexico State. And plus it’s far away from family. I’d have to have a pretty good reason to…” She stopped. I knew what she was thinking: there’s no certain chance that we will stay together, or even that the close proximity will help considering how much I travel.
I sighed, hardly believing what I was about to say and a little worried about what’d she’d think of it.
“Alyssa,” I said, again hesitantly. “Hypothetically, what would you say if I asked you to marry me?”
Alyssa didn’t speak for a moment. And she didn’t make eye contact. I couldn’t even read the expression on her face.
Finally she spoke. “I would say there was nothing more that I’d rather do than marry you. To have you mine for the rest of my life, but I can’t right now.”
This confused me, to say the least. But I didn’t say a thing. I figured she would build up the strength to explain in a moment’s time.
And she did. “It’s hard to explain exactly, but I kind of promised my dad that I wouldn’t get married until after I graduated from college. He just believes it’s more cautious that way. His parents married straight out of high school, and divorced when he was five. And he hated it.”
I pulled her into my arms and held her. “I understand. That’s why I asked. I didn’t know what you would think.”
“I’m sorry, Kev,” she whispered, and I could hear tears in her voice. I wasn’t surprised. She was obviously completely nervous about her future. It was a challenge I faced at her age, and it is scarier than anything to know that nothing is for certain.
“It’s okay, baby,” I said softly, lifting her chin with my index finger and kissing her softly on the lips. “Just remember that whatever decision you make, I will always love you.”
“I will always love you too, Kev,” she near-whispered, laying her head on my shoulder again. And for most of the rest of the night we sat there in silence, enjoying each other’s company while watching the waves crash onto the sand.
I promise, Alyssa. I will always love you.
Oh! Didn't expect a lot of that to happen did you?! Comments please!
~ Faye